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The Tanigaki family grave was dead silent.
On an unusually hot late-summer evening, when the cicadas were still flitting on the road behind where Tanigaki stood, it almost seemed out of place. It was as if the humidity outside the cover of wisteria trees that had long since lost their budding should have dripped between the spaces of the air, infecting the silence with heat and noise of Obon.
Tanigaki stood just on the edge of the lot, one foot into the silent shade of the trees, while the other rested just outside. In his hands was a single lantern, still burning with a soft flame.
He didn’t know why he was hesitating. It wasn’t for fear of being caught out; on the first night of Obon, it’d make sense to find people lighting their way to graveyards with lanterns. It wasn’t inclement weather either; it’d been one of the clearest nights in weeks.
Maybe it was because there was a new gravestone there.
It wasn’t that Tanigaki was afraid. There was nothing frightening on a night as clear as this, when the moon was full and visible overhead, hanging thickly above the center of the site where the trees didn’t cover. Moonlight illuminated the newest gravestone, making the glossy black surface shine. The characters on each side were illuminated in silver. Tanigaki didn’t need to be able to read them to know the pair of names on the stove.
He had changed the incense the day before, had swept and cleaned every inch of his house; had even painted his family’s old crest on the paper lantern in his hands. He’d done everything, and now, he just had to walk in. That was all he had to do.
He’d cleaned their graves before. He’d left incense. He’d said his prayers in the light of day, even managing to drag Ogata along once or twice, much to his lover’s annoyance. So what was different about tonight? What was really different enough to make Tanigaki’s throat seize up so tightly that he might as well have started crying?
“Hey, Genjirou,” There was a voice coming from behind him. “Are you going in?”
Heart skipping a beat in his chest, Tanigaki slowly turned to look behind him, eyes widening a bit in his shock. Behind him, she stood, slightly out of breath and with a few strands of hair falling from her elaborate style. “... Fumi.” Tanigaki breathed, slowly exhaling.
“Did I scare you, big brother?” Fumi gave a little smile, eyes shining with quiet amusement. “I’m surprised you didn’t hear us coming- it wasn’t exactly quiet, you know…”
“How are you here?” Tanigaki asked, turning around to face her. Fumi was already fussing with herself, trying to smooth the loose strands of hair back into place, hands mostly covered by the long sleeves of her white kimono. “I… you’ve been-”
“Well, we rode in on horseback, obviously.” Fumi huffed out a fond breath, gesturing behind her. In the dim lights along the dirt road, right in plain sight, Kenkichi waved from where he was resting against the mare’s speckled flank, looking far more out of breath than Fumi. Seeing Tanigaki finally notice him, Kenkichi grinned goodnaturedly, giving a thumbs up. Fumi continued, “We’re close enough to walk, you know, but Kenki insisted- said it’d make a bigger impression when we made it to the house.”
“Don’t forget- it was faster!” Kenkichi said lightly, finally walking over. He’d even had the time to tie that mare to a nearby signpost, in the time that Tanigaki had been preoccupied with his thoughts. “We don’t have much time, and well… we figured we’d come to you. Save the travel time and expenses.”
Fumi caught herself on a laugh, coughing politely to cover it. “Expenses… as if it would have cost more than six-”
“Why are you here?” Tanigaki finally got out, voice cracking a little on the last word.
The two in front of him paused. Fumi glanced back at Kenkichi and bit her lip briefly before turning back to Tanigaki, looking at his with sympathetic eyes. “Ah… I’m sorry. It would be a shock…”
“A shock- it’s. It’s a little… more than a shock.” Tanigaki swallowed thickly, touching the hand not preoccupied with holding his lantern in an iron grip to his mouth. “You’re not- you’re not supposed to be here. You’re…”
“Dead,” Kenkichi said, damnable pity in his voice.
Fumi moved forward and pulled Tanigaki’s right hand down from his face, squeezing it between both of hers. The spirit’s hands were ethereal- so much so that Tanigaki didn’t feel anything more than the lightest brush of wind gently pressing against his hand. Phantom weight and phantom comfort from phantom hands- it only made sense.
Kenkichi let out a gentle sigh and moved beside her, putting a hand on Tanigaki’s shoulder. “Hey. It’s alright- there’s no need to act so forlorn about it! It’s about time for the festival, isn’t it?” Kenkichi gave a wide smile, squeezing Tanigaki’s shoulder. “Don’t tell me we got the date wrong!”
Tanigaki was at a total loss for words. While he wasn’t usually a man of many words in the first place, this seemed like a time- possibly the only real time- to say the thousands of things he wanted to. Apologies, regrets, even filling them in on what was missed over the past eight months- something. Something important. He needed, more than anything, to step back, close his eyes, think-
Tanigaki couldn’t bring himself to pull away.
Lips parting, he took a shaky breath and was about to speak when another voice came from beyond the trees. “Hey, Tanigaki. Are you just going to stand there or what?”
Tanigaki’s head quickly turned towards the voice, blinking in bewilderment. He recognized the voice- and knew that it belonged to someone very much alive. “Ogata?” He asked, catching sight of the two ghosts’ heads turning towards the voice as well.
Ogata emerged from the dim road, looking wholly unimpressed and wearing leather motorcycle gloves. Tanigaki vehemently hoped that he hadn’t actually been riding his motorcycle this late at night- not only because the visibility, while clearer than most nights, wasn’t optimal, but also because if he was then that meant that Tanigaki hadn’t heard him coming in. That likely didn’t mean anything good for his hearing. Though maybe this time, it could be excused by the blood still rushing through them.
“Don’t see who else it could be,” Ogata said, slicking his hair back as if he didn’t already have a metric ton of gel in it. He smirked, lazy and antagonistic. “Unless you were expecting someone else, Tanigaki? Didn’t pin you for the type to have illicit activities planned this time of year-”
“Because I’m not,” Tanigaki said, glancing at Fumi and Kenkichi, still standing nearby. Kenkichi looked intrigued, while Fumi watched the newcomer with a look that was less than impressed.
“I didn’t realize you were expecting anyone, big brother,” Fumi said, looking over Ogata with a scrutinizing eye.
Tanigaki was about to open his mouth and politely answer her when Ogata said, “Well then. The hell are you doing here? Or are you just going to stand there looking half dead.” He couldn’t see the two standing beside Tanigaki, dressed in burial clothes and looking as nice as the day they were buried. And if he didn’t see them, that meant that Tanigaki may or may not have been having a grief fueled hallucination; and it certainly meant that he couldn’t just address them.
“I just didn’t expect you to actually show up around here,” Tanigaki said, leveling a look at Ogata and, honestly, wishing he would just go for once. Usually, Tanigaki might have welcomed the intrusion, since it wasn’t often that Ogata sought him out- but right then was… probably the worst time Ogata had ever managed to intrude.
“Well, I was in the area,” Ogata shrugged, “The store by your place is the only place around here that sells yuzu-pepper base. I figure I’d drop in and see if you were still obsessing over the cleaning.”
“No, I’m done,” Tanigaki said curtly.
“Then I saw you here,” Ogata tried to look past Tanigaki, into the entrance to the gravesite. “so I figured I’d come to say hi.”
“Funny little friend you got there,” Kenkichi said lightheartedly.
“Funny is a bit of an understatement…” Fumi said, touching her chin lightly with a hand.
“That’s kind of you.” Tanigaki got out. “I’ll be heading out soon, though. I just came in to visit for a few minutes- then I’m going home.”
“Is that so?” Ogata hummed as he stepped forward, eyes raking over Tanigaki’s face. Tanigaki shifted uncomfortably under the look, taking a step back. Fumi took his previous place, staring at Ogata as Ogata, unaware, stared straight over her. “That was all you came to do, hm… Are you sure that’s it?”
“Of course it is,” Tanigaki said, the corner of his lips twitching. “Why do you ask.”
“Oh, no reason, really,” Ogata waved his hand in a mildly dismissive manner, gaze sliding off of Tanigaki’s face and over his shoulder. He tried to crane his neck around Tanigaki for a moment more before he grinned. “I just thought I heard you talking to someone here.”
Tanigaki tensed. “Is that so? Sorry… I was talking to myself.”
“Well now that just hurts my heart,” Fumi mildly said, lightly touching her chest with her fingertips. “or it would have, I think.”
“I guess it is kinda true, though,” Kenkichi said, wrapping an arm around Ogata’s shoulders without even a second thought. Ogata, who hated random people touching him, didn’t even begin to react. He looked at Tanigaki sheepishly. “If he doesn’t realize we’re here, then you must have looked a little batty, talking to us here…”
Ogata watched Tanigaki for a long moment, unaware of the ghosts still lingering. Tanigaki was worrying that he was legitimately starting to lose it- after all, if they were just hallucinations, they should’ve gone, right? Why were they lingering and- perhaps this was the true horror of the situation- passing commentary on Ogata?
A stray leaf fell on Ogata’s shoulder and Kenkichi easily brushed it off as he took his arm back. Tanigaki started thinking… thinking that perhaps…
“So you’re not hiding anyone,” Ogata said, deadpan and, perhaps, slightly disappointed.
“No. Not at all.” Tanigaki said. “I’m not even sure where someone would hide, here.” That was true- the trees around the grave, while planted close together, didn’t provide wide enough coverage for a crouching body with their trunks. The gravestones were a tad smaller than usual- anyone would have to curl in on itself to hide completely.
“Ah! Got it.” Kenkichi snapped his fingers, “He’s your boyfriend, right?”
Tanigaki sucked down a quick breath and coughed, choking down a rebuttal.
“Him?” Fumi said, frowning as she walked around Ogata in a half-circle. “You finally have someone… but it’s him.”
“You’re acting weird as hell,” Ogata said, eyeing Tanigaki. “What are you, sick? From what, the cold?”
“No, no,” Tanigaki said, voice a tone too high before he cleared his throat. “It’s not. Illness. I’m just… tired.” He paused, glancing in the direction of the two spirits, still very much standing on either side of Ogata. “Very tired.”
“...” Tanigaki should have figured that Ogata wouldn’t have been satisfied by that answer; but he wasn’t expecting Ogata to step closer, pulling Tanigaki’s face down by his chin and resting their foreheads together. “... You’re warm.”
“... It’s a hot night.” Tanigaki shrugged helplessly, pulling away and turning his head to the side. “It’s probably just that. We’ve been out here for a while.”
“Maybe,” Ogata said with mild disdain. “Either way, you should go home.”
“No… no, I still have some work here.” Tanigaki let out a low breath, eyes flitting over towards Fumi and Kenkichi. Fumi looked at him with understanding eyes, nodding thoughtfully.
“Suit yourself. It’s your stupor.” Ogata said carelessly, turning around and taking a few steps away. Tanigaki figured this would be the end of it. Their talks tended to end fairly abruptly, after all- which, for once, was a relief. But instead, Ogata paused and looked over his shoulder. “... There was something I wanted to show you.”
“Hm? Is that right?” Tanigaki asked, blinking in bewilderment.
“Yea. You said I should get a lantern for all this festival crap,” Ogata said, peeking his head around one of the trees and reaching out, picking something up. “I saw this one for a couple of yen and thought, what the hell. May as well.” He held up the paper lantern, flickering dimly.
“Oh,” Tanigaki said, surprised. It wasn’t often that Ogata went out of his way to take other peoples’ suggestions- much less Tanigaki’s. “That’s nice.”
Ogata was quiet for a moment. “Is that all?”
“Well, yes?” Tanigaki’s eyebrow raised.
Ogata scoffed. “It has a crest in it- it’ll look good when we release these damned things out.” He paused, looking down at the dim lantern. “In a few days, I mean. At the fireworks show? Or did you completely forget.”
“I didn’t forget.” Tanigaki blinked, tilting his head. “You want to go together?”
“Obviously,” Ogata said, fishing in his pocket for a moment before pulling out a lighter. “You’re the one who made me buy this damned thing- hold on…”
Tanigaki was about to say that he didn’t actually make Ogata buy anything- and besides, hadn’t Ogata been the one who claimed he just got it on sale?- when he caught sight of something moving in the dark, just beyond the hand Ogata used to hold the lantern. Squinting to try and catch a better look, Tanigaki could swear… that there was another hand, mimicking the motion of Ogata lighting the lantern.
Ogata held the brightly illuminated lantern up, depicting several camellias curled along the bottom and metal edges of the lantern frame. The flame illuminated his face, shining bright against the black void of his eyes.
The lantern also illuminated the ghastly face of the woman standing behind him.
It wasn’t ghastly because it was the figure of a woman, nor was it ghastly because she was dead- and she so obviously must have been dead, in that tattered white kimono and hair braided into an elaborate bun- but it was ghastly for the woman’s teeth. Her lower jaw distended unnaturally from her face, the tip of her chin resting on unsuspecting Ogata’s shoulder, and filled with dozens of teeth. All were long, thin, sharp, opaque- good for cutting through flesh. The five lures growing out from her forehead, glowing soft blue, then orange in the lantern light, fell out from where they had been tied in her hair.
“Ogata,” Tanigaki asked, a mite faintly, “you don’t have anyone in your family who’s died recently… do you?”
Ogata was silent for just a beat too long. “Nah. My Granny’s old but she’s not that old, y’know- she’s still got something in her.”
“I see,” Tanigaki said, eyes fixed on the spirit that slowly, carefully, raised her hands to either side of Ogata’s head. Her nails were gone, and the webbing between her fingers looked as if they’d be slimy to the touch. Ogata wouldn’t even have known if this spirit touched him- so should Tanigaki have said something? Should he have pulled Ogata away? But Ogata was already catching onto Tanigaki acting strangely-
He glanced toward Fumi and Kenkichi for help, but they’d disappeared.
“You sure you’re not sick or something?” Ogata intoned, unaware of the fingers slowly brushing against his face. “You’re sweating bullets.”
“Hyaku… no… suke…” The spirit whispered, voice hoarse and seafoam filling the gaps between her sharpened teeth.
“Oi, Tanigaki?” Ogata waved a hand in front of his face. “... Genjirou?”
Tanigaki moved forward quickly and knocked the lantern out of Ogata’s hand, losing his footing somewhat in the process and falling into him. The lantern bounced once, then twice, then settled near one of the tree trunks and burned softly there. Ogata stumbled back a few steps and held onto Tanigaki’s arms, steadying them both. Somehow, Tanigaki managed to keep his death grip on his own lantern.
Tanigaki’s gaze flitted from Ogata’s blank face and over to the lantern, watching the spirit slowly leave him, padding along the grassy ground.
“Hyakuno… suke…” The woman softly cried out, bending over the fallen lantern. The water dripping from her neck and mouth slowly dampened the thin paper and the flame trapped inside. As is slowly dimmed to nothing, Tanigaki could see the woman’s far-too-human eyes, black and glittering with grief. Through the tears, the water and mumbling, Tanigaki thought he could hear her saying something else… saying something like...
“-rou!” Ogata snapped in his face, bringing him back to the present. “Stop spacing out on me, you damned oaf.”
“... Sorry.” Tanigaki said after a moment. “I suppose… I wasn’t feeling as well as I thought after all.”
Ogata opened his mouth to say something, paused, and just sighed. “Then you should get to bed. I don’t want to babysit you.” He gave a wry smirk. “You can buy me a new lantern tomorrow since you ruined that one.”
“No!” Tanigaki said. Ogata looked at him incredulously. The anglerfish woman was still bent over, weeping. “... I mean. You don’t really need a lantern. It’s not like you’ve had anyone die.”
“No, but… the send-off-”
“We can still make a date of it,” Tanigaki said quickly, giving the best smile that he could.
Ogata balked, suddenly taking his hands away and fiddling with the hem of one of his gloves. “You wish it were a date- I just figured I’d go with you since I doubt you have anyone else. Being antisocial.”
“Funny,” Tanigaki deadpanned, taking Ogata’s hand again and starting to walk down the road. The sooner they were away from that spirit and the snuffed out lantern, the better. “I don’t see you taking any friends anywhere either.”
“Fuck off,” Ogata said, and for some reason, he still allowed Tanigaki to hold his hand.
They lapsed into silence as they walked down the road, away from the Tanigaki gravesite. Tanigaki would have to come back later on after Ogata had gone home for the night- he still had to clean that grave.
“Sorry for disappearing on you, Genjirou.” He heard Fumi’s voice beside him. On Ogata’s other side, Kenkichi walked, looking to Ogata with a knowing look.
“...” Tanigaki squeezed Ogata’s hand, head tilting towards him.
“Oh, right- your boyfriend,” Kenkichi smiled, and Tanigaki was annoyed to find that he couldn’t say otherwise, lest he start ‘talking to himself’ again. “He can’t see us… and he couldn’t see that spirit, either.”
“That’s… for the best.” Fumi shifted uncomfortably beside him, holding onto her other arm. “Those kinds are some of the most dangerous… not born of anger or hatred- but born of regret and love…”
“Love can sure drive people to some scary stuff,” Kenkichi agreed, nodding sagely.
“She had been saying ‘sorry’... poor woman.”
Tanigaki silently squeezed Ogata’s hand. There was a story to that- to the spirit who had come to Ogata. But it wasn’t his place to ask. Maybe one day, Ogata would tell him voluntarily who it was who had died.
“Hey, big brother,” Fumi said, resting her hand over Tanigaki’s where it held his lantern. “Promise you won’t be like that… and promise you’ll be careful with this one.”
“Hm?” Tanigaki hummed despite himself, tilting his head closer to hear.
“That wasn’t the only one clinging to this one,” Fumi said. The words crawled up Tanigaki’s spine in a shiver. “There are others… they’re harmless, surely… but be careful.”
“You don’t think he’ll end up like them…?” Kenkichi suddenly asked, alarmed.
Fumi thought for a moment, glancing at Ogata. “... No. I don’t think so.”
It was dead silent. The only sound was the soft breaths of the living, puffing into the humid summer air. Then, Fumi squeezed his hand with phantom pressure and smiled. “Hey, Genjirou… We’ll meet you back at the house, alright?”
“What?” Tanigaki muttered in his shock, gaining a sidelong glance from Ogata.
“You know, there are certain rules to this kind of thing…” Fumi said apologetically, smiling sadly even still. “We’re only here for three days… and usually, we’re not seen.”
“The fact that you were able to see us, and talk to us- it’s pretty amazing!” Kenkichi said wistfully. “But… There are others we have to meet, too.”
“I think Mama misses me,” Fumi said, smiling a little wider as her eyes dampened at the corners. “And Kentarou, and Papa… They have lanterns for us too.”
Tanigaki nodded. He understood- and it would have been selfish to keep others from seeing them. If they could see them. It would have been selfish to deprive his family of Fumi… especially after she’d been gone for what felt like ages already.
Fumi and Kenkichi stopped walking. Tanigaki and Ogata moved on ahead.
“We’ll see you soon, Genjirou,” Kenkichi said affectionately.
“We’ll see you again… we promise.” Fumi said, holding onto her late husband’s hand.
Tanigaki paused, looking over his shoulder. They were already gone.
“... Goodbye, then.” Tanigaki whispered, hoping the late-night breeze would carry his words.
Ogata waited for a moment and then tugged on Tanigaki’s hand, sighing. “Hurry it up. We don’t have all night- and I still want to get to the store for that soup stuff.”
“Right,” Tanigaki said, beginning to move once again.
The farther they walked from the grave and from where the ghosts had stood, the more his chest ached. It ached heavily, the heat and cicada song of the night settling thick in his lungs as he glanced up at the sky, full of thousands of stars. Hanging up there, light years away, they looked like lanterns.
He didn’t know he’d started crying until Ogata said, “You look like hell.”
The tears streaking down his cheeks weren’t foreign- but they felt odd, now, months after everything had passed. They were cold and relieving in the night. “I feel the opposite, actually.”
“Is that so…” Ogata said, slowing down. Tanigaki nodded, gasping on a stuttering breath and taking his hand from Ogata’s to wipe at his eyes with the back of his hand. It wasn’t surprising to hear Ogata sigh heavily, muttering, “Oh, come on… it’s not the time for all that, is it.” But he was still reaching up and rubbing Tanigaki’s back with such gentleness that Tanigaki almost froze up at the touch. “Figures you’d be sentimental about this stuff.”
“How else am I supposed to be?” Tanigaki managed through a wry, watery smile.
“... Eh, I wouldn’t know.” Ogata said, slowly, hesitantly, leaning his body against Tanigaki’s side. They stopped walking, allowing Tanigaki to take the awkwardly offered comfort. “It’s fine that you’re like this, though. Probably. Still annoying as shit.”
“I’m sure.” Tanigaki sniffed, and, unexpectedly, was pulled into a hug. Blinking, he looked down at Ogata. Then, he wrapped his free hand around the man clinging close to his side. “... Thank you.”
“Don’t get used to it,” Ogata said.
It was silent for a few moments. Tanigaki’s tears slowly stopped and dried, and his breathing became calm once again. Ogata stayed, comforting weight against Tanigaki’s side. Then, slowly, Ogata stepped back, looking up at him with an unreadable expression.
“Hey… Genjirou. I have to ask you something.”
Tanigaki’s eyebrows furrowed as Ogata glanced just beyond him. Tanigaki said, “... Ask away. It’s only fair.” Tanigaki turned his head to follow the shorter man’s line of sight.
“You can see them too,” Ogata said, eyes caught on the shape of a man with a bullet through his head. “can’t you?”